Wild Cove, where Melvin Combden grew up, was resettled in 1958-59. Melvin remembers Wild Cove being a hard place to live: it had no harbour, it was hard to keep a boat, and one had to walk everywhere with no roads. Approximately 30 families lived...

Melvin Combden plays "Hand me Down me Calico" on the accordion and Evelyn Osborne joins in on the fiddle at the table in Melvin's kitchen. Evelyn then plays a variant version, commenting that she knows the tune by a different name.

Since there was not much entertainment on Fogo Island, someone interested in the accordion would hang around someone who could play. Melvin Combden spent time with his cousin Harry Everly, who was a good accordion player, to pick up his method of...

Melvin Combden states that a lot of Newfoundland music comes from "over there," meaning Ireland and England, but mostly from Ireland. Most of the music that Melvin knows comes from people on Fogo Island. He also discusses the influence of Harry...

Evelyn Osborne asks Melvin Combden to play "Dog Cove Jig." The tune is a song played by the Islanders, a Fogo Island band. Some of their other songs include "Islander Jigs" and "Bannerman's Jig." Ed Shepard was a member of the band.

Evelyn Osborne holds her fiddle in readiness while Melvin Combden plays the accordion. Tea has been laid out for them on Melvin's kitchen table, including homemade bakeapple jam, crackers and cheese, instant coffee, tea and muffins baked by...